Various techniques have been used to deploy instrumentation payloads or other appendages from spacecraft. Typically, deployment is initiated from a storage bay after the spacecraft has reached a selected orbit or other extraterrestrial location. The instrumentation may include solar panels, measurement equipment, imaging devices and communication antennae. As can be appreciated, such instrumentation may be very sensitive in nature and should be deployed with minimal vibration or shock.
The design of deployment devices that are capable of accurately, reliably and repeatably delivering sensitive equipment from a stowed position to a deployed position presents a number of challenges. For example, the deployment device should comprise an actuator that can apply the necessary energy to physically move the instrumentation. Further, positioning of the instrumentation should be done in a manner that reduces any risk of damage (e.g., due to rapid or uneven acceleration or deceleration).
Additionally, because the deployment device may be used on an orbiting spacecraft, the deployment device should be lightweight, have a minimal number of parts to reduce maintenance requirements, improve reliability, enhance the mass efficiency of the deployed system, have a compact arrangement in the stowed position to reduce the size of the storage or deployment bay, be resettable and repeatable at least during ground testing of the deployment device to ensure that the device will work as expected while in orbit, and have a low fabrication cost to reduce the overall cost of the spacecraft.